Concerts

When writing my "Best of 2012" post I said that I had been to 15 concerts. But now that I'm thinking about it, I might have been to more. Part of me thinks that's kind of crazy, but another part knows that I've been going to as many concerts as I can because concerts are awesome. So I've decided to try and list the ones I've been to, and hopefully in chronologically order and links to songs!

1. Shinedown - Aug 2010. With sister, her then boyfriend, Cousin Seth, his fiancee, BFF Chris in Westfield. I don't remember much from this show, just that the people in front of us were really smelly and that whenever the lead singer tried to tell a story, people would shout for him to "just sing" - which is really rude and fucked up.

2. Miranda Lambert - Oct 2, 2010. Saw her at the Big E with my sister and a cousin. I'm not a big fan of country, but she has some good songs and despite the rain, I enjoyed myself. Plus, we made a day of it and I finally got to explore the rides and sights of the Big E.

3. Ellie Goulding - Mar 23, 2011. With BFF Chris in Boston. Ellie got lost in Boston so she was three late to the show. It was crazy, but we got to meet her and take a photo. She was really entertaining and I love to see her again.

4. Airborne Toxic Event - May 11, 2011. Again with BFF Chris in Boston. This show was amazing! My first time in the House of Blues, a guy proposed to his girlfriend (she said yes!), and it's where I discovered an indie band (I have their CD somewhere...). Again, I'd recommend seeing them live.

5. Maroon 5 - Aug 13, 2011. Alone, Comcast Center. My friend bailed at the last minute, but since Maroon 5 is one of my all-time favorite bands, I loved the show. Train also preformed, but I had to be leave before they took the stage. Still, it was a great show and I loved seeing them.

6. Sara Bareilles - Aug 30, 2011. Sister and Karaa from High School, Boston. OMG, Sara has a mouth worse than a sailor! Within the first couple of songs she was dropping f-bombs and I'm pretty sure she said cunt at least three times! But she's amazing and knows how to play to a crowd and she's wicked funny. I actually starting following her on Twitter because of this show.

7. Mixfest! - Sept 17, 2011. BFF Chris, Boston. A local radio show hosted a free concert in the park, featuring Bareilles, Michelle Branch, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, and a couple more. Sitting on the grass in a park, listening to music was so college student, that it was perfect. The show was free, so I won't complain about anything.

8.  Reba McEntire - Oct 1, 2011. With my sister, her friend and her friend's sister at the Big E. One of the most famous singers of my lifetime and definitely someone who brings in a crowd, Reba was a delight to see. She sang her more famous and more recent songs in full, and then did a melody combining her other songs. It was a great show.

9. Grace Kelly Quintet - Oct 3, 2011. Alone. WOW! Grace is a saxophone prodigy and that surprises no one after hearing her perform. I got to meet her and see signed my playbook. She's definitely small-time right now, but give her a little more time and all she needs is one large stream media to grab her and she's be famous.

10. Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra - Nov 19, 2011. With my sister, friend was in the show.  OK, this one might not really count, but it does. I wanted to support my friend who plays violin, but I also wanted to enjoy the music. I'm a classy bitch.

11. Kelly Clarkson - Jan 26, 2012. With sister and BFF Chris. What's funny about this show is the week before Chris asked if I wanted to see her, I was hearing Clarkson everywhere - radio stations, stores, just on TV. What's awesome was we were in the last row, aisle seats and two were together and there's a barrier or sorts for the other one. It was super silly. But the show itself was great. Clarkson is definitely a cultural figure and she has the power to reach the balcony seats. I would love to see her again, just with much better seats.

12. Gym Class Heroes - April 19, 2012. Alone, Salem State University.  I got to see them free! By being press, I was invite to see the show for free and I took my photographer too. haha. I had to work so hard to make sure I was the reporter who got to cover this. Multiple interviews, tracking people down and two articles, but it was worth it. GCH is a fun band, and it was nice to feel like a journalist because of this. 

13. Ingrid Michaelson - May 15, 2012. With my cousin Amy,in Boston. I've been a fan of Ingrid for years and seeing her live was great. She tells stories and jokes about her career and her voice is deeper, but in a more heartfelt way live. She was funny and sweet and it was such a relaxed night. Ingrid is definitely someone I'd like to see again.

14. Marina and the Diamonds and Coldplay - July 30, 2012. With my girls, BRL and GD. After GD had converted me to a Marina fan, I knew we had to see her. We were at the Garden and sit almost directly behind the stage, but she was great. The opener was Emeli Sande and both women were able to project despite the Garden's crappy sound system. We only stayed for the first few songs of Coldplay, cause none of us really like them. But Coldplay knows how to play to a crowd, with glowing bracelets of varying colors.

15. Florence + The Machine - Sept 14, 2012. With GD, sister, cousin Amy and her friend Mick. It's Florence live. Of course this show was breathe-taking. The drive there was crazy fun as well. hahaha. But with her soulful sound and her latest album only being a few months old, Florence was great. She played to the crowd amazingly, and she even left the stage to run around in the hall, barefoot because she is a wild woman. One hell of a night, and worth every minute.

16. Me Vs. Gravity - Dec 9, 2012. With my mom and in Cambridge. That band and 3 others, but we left early because Mum didn't like the music. hahaha. Also, it was super-hipster and in the back of a breakfast joint. If you looked up on the dance floor, you could see pipes held together with duct tape. So totally hipster, not even a real show. But the day was amazing because after the show we did a whole explore Boston thing. It was so much fun. 




I know I'm missing at least two shows, maybe more. But I'll make sure to come back to this in the future.

my baby

Ok, so Global just tried to climb up the cage using the table, but he's so fat he could barely fit.

He had to slide-climb-cling to the sides. it was adorable!

I love my kitties, all of them, but global is definitely my loveliest one. He's my chunks and I'll always love that about him.

Following In Boston

A friend and I have play a weird game whenever we go into Boston. Simply, we stalk strangers.

If we haven't planned anything, we'll walk around and once we find someone interesting looking, we'll follow them.

The rules are simple: follow them until they enter a building or the T (or if we lose them in a crowd - it happens lol!).

We found these people at Saint James street and followed them past a couple churches until losing them when we got distracted by this squirrel:

near Charles street by The Boston Commons. The walk was actually kind of nice, even though it made us circle around the green line haha.

After losing the ladies, we saw this guy:

At first I thought he was a stray and I wanted to give him a wide berth but an owner came into view and motioned the dog to cross the street with her.

We ran across the street and followed the pair down Charles until Owner went into a Starbucks on the corner of Pinckney street.

With that Follow done, we decided to get food. Stalking strangers is trying after all!

We ate at a little restaurant with candle lighting. When we entered, a man seated us, but it was a while before the wait staff came to take our order. Long enough that we had to ask the man if everything was ok. lol

However, during the wait we were able to talk and reconnect - which was great!
After absorbing the clam chowder, we shared a piece of chocolate cake. The dinner was a wonderful way to end the day - which is what Following is all about. Discovering new places and seeing a side of Boston that only locals know.

Until next time,
I might be right behind you ;)

And the not-so beautiful

I've been pretty bold recently.

Last Saturday, I went to downtown Salem and rode carnival rides. I love going fast - speed has always been a friend to me, so I absolutely loved it. We went on the Spaceship and The Arctic Trip - which speeds forward then backward really fast. I loved it. It was so spiny. Haha.

But after that, we walked around downtown. Halloween in Salem is crazy by definition, but with it being a weekend and unusual warm weather, everyone was out. There were so many awesome costumes. I def need a better camera, my little point and shoot is dying :(

After walking around for a while, we got hungry so we went into a bar. It was pretty good, reasonable prices and I got wasted so there's that. I had two Long Island Ice Teas and there was a dance floor, so you know I was getting my groove on. When we were dancing, there was this guy checking us out. So my friend, being the genius that she is, smoothly danced away from but still stayed close. And he kept looking at me!

As the night continued, I got drunker, but he kept checking me out. I caught him a couple times, even smiled and tried to encourage him to talk to me. Only, I don't really know how to do that and worse, he never made a move. So at 11, when the bar's entertainment license ended (?), and we were about to leave I wrote my name and number on a napkin, walked straight up to him and pushed it into his shirt's front pocket!

I've never been that bold with a man before. I'm usually super shy around guys - cause of the whole lack of self-worth thing. It's been a week and he hasn't called, so I'm guessing that's another romantic dead-end. Tough break for this lonely heart.

Then on Monday was The Hurricane. It wasn't too bad here - nothing like N.Y. or N.J. Thank God. But during the beginning stages of the storm, a friend and I went to a local park that bleeds into a beach to see the waves and face the beast head on. It was crazy - trees had fallen. The waves were crashing against the pier. As we were leaving, you could see nails that were pushed up and some of the planks had popped up. It was crazy, but super exciting. Definitely not something I'm used to doing, but I loved it.

See how high the waves were getting?!

The tree that had fallen

Just one of the nails that was pushed up.

Florence

On Friday I saw Florence and the Machine in Mansfield. Getting there was actually really fun.

Mansfield is 60 miles from my apt (which I didn't know when I got the tix), and we had to drive through Boston 5 o'clock traffic.

But we discovered the joys of the HOV lane and we only almost got hit once. My friend GD was tots freakin' for a bit. haha

We got there just as the opening band was finishing their set. Enough time to see them leave. Then 20 minutes later Florence came on.

Barefooted and wild, Florence would just move with the music. I'm not sure if it was on rehearsed or natural, but you could feel her reacting to the music. Her arms would raise and fall almost too perfectly timed with the beat for it to be fake.

She actually sang quite a few songs from "Lungs" and her voice was clear. There was a bit of distortion but I think that was more the venue's fault than hers.

There wasn't a lot of planned crowd interaction, but a couple people in the front row seats had brought signs and flower headbands - which Florence wore for a couple songs before they fell off.

There was also one crazy part during the only slow song she has when fans took out lighters. It felt like a 60's hippie rock concert. And it was definitely a fire hazard. haha

That's all for now.

Love Always,
Joe

Today

Dear diary,

I don't feel good.
Goodnight.

Love always,
JB

Birthday Shenanigany

I'm 22!

I normally don't make a bug deal out of my birthday, but I'm glad I did this year.

First, a bunch of us saw ParaNorman. The movie was amazing! If it's still in theaters, I highly recommend it. The storyline was fully developed and heartwarming. Some of the scenes were painfully honest about children dynamics on the "playground." But there were some really cute one-liners and the character growth of minor characters was nice to see. Oh, the movie also used a unique zombie trope that was a pleasant surprise.

Then after the movie we went to a local resturant known for their Helltini - an incredibly spicy drink that's made with Hellwater, Fire Whiskey and a secret, spicy drink. Anyone who drinks it gets a free t-shirt saying "I survived the Helltini." I've done the Helltini twice before, but it still burned when I had a sip from my friend EL.  My cousin SR said that eating tomatoes will dull the burn, and it did! So if you're ever eating fire-inducing food, maybe eat a tomato as well.

Pretty much right as we finished eating, it started to rain and lightening was cracking against the night sky. It was oddly a perfect way to end the evening.

My mom, sister and cousin AC stayed in town for half a week in order to celebrate/explore my city. We went to my favorite museum to see works by Ansel Adams. It was nice hanging out with my fam for a bit. Even if my sister's cat, who spend the week with my kitties, established dominance in my home.

Then later that week, I met up with AW, BL, and MX in Boston for a picnic in the commons. AW and BL surprised me with a birthday cake and while I was blowing out the candles, BL played a youtube video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was really sweet, especially considering how the day before the surprise cake, BL asked me my ideal lunch and I joking said I wanted JGL to serenade me. hehe, it was really sweet and definitely a memory I want to keep.

And while most people have New Year's as the start of their year, I feel like birthdays are better indicators of what's to come. And if this year's festivals are the leading points, I know this year is going to be amazing!

Now, I'm off to work!

Love Always,
Joe